Well That Happened
by lallyzippo
Summary: A new creepy game is plugged in. Gloyd Orangeboar will have none of that "wait until we make sure the world won't kill us immediately" cowardice, however! It's a Halloween-themed game, right? He loves Halloween! Of course, things he doesn't plan happen. But maybe there are some lessons to be learned by new characters as well. Vanilla Peanutbutter and other pairings.
1. The Halloween Game

**Chapter 1**

"…Well that happened." A blonde, tall man wrung his wrists awkwardly as he watched part of his opponents' home crack off and tumble into the ravine next to it. The game fixed most damage but _that_…might take some forgiveness. He chuckled as he gave an apologetic, toothy grin at the young woman he was fighting.

Maple was beyond irritated. This was NOT how she wanted to start their week at the arcade. However, she was well aware that the 'show' had to go on. A death match on the first game of the day, though! That wasn't supposed to be so common, they weren't a melee game!. And this kid really had no idea how to control her.

Dawn, the blonde man, simply watched Maple as buttons were mashed and her movements became almost completely, well, immobilizing and ineffective.

Maybe if he got her a game over, she'd forgive him for her Clan's fortress?

* * *

"Ooops." Lindsay Moppet adjusted her glasses sheepishly.

'AND THE AUTUMN CLAN WAS NO MORE,' the screen read in gory letters.

Game over. Darn. She had waited outside so she could play it first too! Being that it was new, it was pretty popular.

"C'mon! My turn!" A boy about her age with blonde, side-sweeping hair nudged her gently out of the way.

"Yeah, yeah, Doug. No mockery please."

"Uh, right. I think mockery is in order. You went up against the easiest clan, according to the manual. Right Mr. Litwak?" Doug's face tilted toward the older arcade owner's direction.

Litwak looked up from the machine parts he had been sorting at the counter and adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "Well, that's what the new manual says."

Doug looked smugly at Lindsay. "Shut up. I bet you can't beat all of 'em in story mode." She rolled her eyes.

"Challenge accepted!" Doug replied enthusiastically as he scrolled through the menu to reach Story Mode. "Hm…which Clan should I use?"

"Well," Mr. Litwick walked over to join his regulars at the new game, "Keep in mind that you will play as the clan leader. At least I think. That's what the guy who sold it to me said."

As he was circling through the selectable Clans, Doug looked back at him. "Wait, you buy games that you don't know everything about?" That didn't seem to…financially sound.

"Sometimes you just have to take chances in life." Litwak seemed to smile a little, as if he knew something they didn't. "Knew nothing about that Dancing Revolution game, or Felix," his head gestured to the aforementioned games, "…but sometimes they can surprise you in ways you didn't expect. Like my Nana."

Litwak really liked that Nana joke. Lindsay and Doug humored him with smiles, but returned to discussing the game, quickly.

"Uh, Spring Clan?"

"Euuugh." Doug made a face. "The leader's way too foppish and…blonde."

"I'm Blonde."

"My point exactly."

"You're blonde."

He quickly continued. "Summer clan?" Lindsay smirked a little.

"The guy's a freakin' giant! And he's got one killer beard," he continued.

Lindsay made a face. "Looks mean to me. Autumn Clan?"

"You just picked that one because it has a token chick leader."

"She has cool glass powers!"

"Laaaaame."

"Winter Clan?"

"That…it's a kid." Doug blinked. Oh, well…cool. If the kid didn't look so creepy. And one eye-less…

"Hm, interesting." Lindsay started to read about the Winter Clan before Doug squished that idea.

"Naw, Summer! Best season!"

Litwak just watched the young gamers with interest.

* * *

Burns motioned to his three captains. "Come! We have been chosen!" the heavily armored vampire shouted in his thick Russian accent. Three rugged fellows followed him to their starting point, armor and weapons clinking and clanking all the way to their home base.

Maple had regenerated into the neutral base—where players selected characters and got exposition—not too long ago. "Oaawwo. Shucks, Dawn, that hurt!" Sure, she was fine NOW, but Dawn had a way of staking people through the head, rather than the heart. Sure, it felt like you were suffocating when your chest had a big-ass hole in it, but it was a lot less painful than have her skull crushed. At least, she thought so.

Dawn gave her an exasperated look. She always seemed to forget that one of her clan's NPCs was the tutorial, story, and control explanation person. "Narratioooon!" he reminded urgently in his sing-songy fashion he often used.

"Right! Jezebel!" Maple hollered to an older vampire woman from her clan. Jezebel jumped as she awoke from a pleasant nap.

"O-oh, already! Programmers should've made me a young lady if they knew we were gonna be this busy!" The older woman stood up from her lounge chair, and brushed her old, gothic dress off and prepared for the crystal ball to appear with the image of an awaiting player. The crystal ball would then warp to Burns's Summer Bunker, and she could get some rest. At least, until the next player.

Goddammit.

* * *

Doug waited as the screen loaded. It had the picture of a castle stronghold, with bats flying in the background.

"You don't think this vampire game is related to Twilight's popularity do you?"

Doug didn't have to think. "Yes. Yes it is. But these vampires actually look hardcore."

The screen faded into a lightly light castle room with an old woman.

"Oh! Hello there! Are you a new vampire?" She seemed kindly enough. "You want to know a secret? I am as well. My name is Jezebel, of the Autumn Vampire Clan. I'm assuming you'll probably want to know about the clans and how their interactions work before you send your new clan into battle as their strategist."

"Should I just skip this stuff?" Doug asked Lindsay. She was too busy getting engrossed in what Jezebel was saying to pay attention to him. Doug shrugged and let it carry on. He didn't want to look like an idiot and get his ass whooped on the first level.

"Each of our clans has different territory, and different main holds. Be aware of the Spring Fields' bogs that can confuse you, Summer Mountains' occasional sunshine, Autumn Valley's strong winds, and Winter Tundra's icy hail. If you want to take territory, you must be sneaky. Use your three captains, who have their own specialties, to lead units of your invaders. Take out other vampire sentries, claim villages and holds as your own, and occasionally, you will have a death match."

Lindsay winced.

"This is when one Vampire Clan leader fights another for a territory. Engaging in battle is not a vampire strong suit, so likely this will only happen if you are detected.

I wish you victory, and a home blessing with your new clan. Good Luck, my fellow nightlings!"

* * *

The Crystal Ball warped to meet up with Burns and his captains.

"Alright, now I'm gonna nap again!" Jezebel waddled back over to her couch and fell asleep instantly. Maple was pretty sure she wouldn't sleep long. They had been busy their first week.

Dawn and Maple turned away and looked at each other. He looked at the young woman expectantly. She seemed rather lost. Oh dear. "….You do know that your Clan will be the first to defend territory, right?" he helpfully reminded.

"_Right._" It wasn't her fault she was programmed to be the newest, and therefore most inexperienced leader. "C'mon team, let's go. Cocoa, William, MJ."

A small blonde girl with pigtails put down the piano she had been holding up to show off. "Who's butts we kickin'?" She had a cat-like grin about her. If only her stature was as large as her ego.

"Summer's."

"Awww, right!" She pumped her fists, stoked for the next fight.

"Try to be sneaky, okay?" Maple winced. Cocoa had a bad habit of causing fights, rather than avoiding them as preferred. Cocoa usually listened to her but…sometimes she had rather _selective_ _hearing_. Maple certainly felt protective of the girl—it was sorta in her programming, she had concluded. Cocoa seemed to view her in a 'cool older sister' sort of way, so Maple could only imagine that's what their creators had wanted.

MJ, a young adult, pushed back his braided, red hair and pulled out a wrench. He was a mild-mannered fellow who was good at repair. Thank the Night too, they would need him once they had a breather to fix up their castle. "Ready chief." He nodded in a manner that showed an amount of…respect toward his Clan leader. Other than the fact that she was built to be in such a position, Maple genuinely had no clue as to why.

However, William was her servant and father-figure combined. William was an older fellow who wore a suit to match his distinguished mustache, and was forever at her side unless she requested otherwise. "I am prepared, M'Lady."

Satisfied with everyone, Maple pulled their team out to defend their castle.

…

Minus that one big chuck from before.

* * *

There had been news around the Game Central Station of a new Halloween-themed game. Or something. Most everyone had shrugged it off. Holiday themed games usually didn't last so long. If they did though, great for them. Most of the game characters just felt that they might not make friends with the new characters unless they happened to meet them. But the greenhorns would have to take the initiative. Going into that world was not an option, especially since it was a Halloween themed game. It could be one of those piss-your-pants with actual real-world fear games, or a cutesy game. No way to tell right now, though.

It seemed as if everyone was willing to spread rumors about the place, though. Tapper had been passing information in and out about how the new residents were flame-related; on account of pac-man swearing on the deliciousness of cherries that he saw a burning figure engulfed in flames outside the place the first night. Although Tapper could tell a tale or two (or pass them around, for that matter), he always just saw it story-telling, ice-breaking, conversation starting. He rarely ever believed these tales unlike some denizens of the arcade community such as Princess Daisy, Ryu, and Link.

It's not like anyone had met the newbies yet, otherwise the rumors may have been more concerning. Until then, stories would fly, curiosity would be tickled, but no one would venture into the new location.

There was _one_ character waiting impatiently to go try the place out, however.

"Gloyd just annoys the candy crap outta me lately!" Vanellope threw her arms up in the air dramatically. She had a habit of that. Not that Ralph or Felix minded, they thought it was pretty funny. Ralph had realized later, after the Turbo incident years ago that Vanellope had always shown some bossy and extravagant tendencies even before her royal identity had been rediscovered. It really was in her code. Not that they ever referred to her as 'Princess', despite these personality twerks of hers. 'Lady Snotface' maybe, but not Princess.

The night before the new game was set to be plugged in, Vanellope, Ralph, Felix and the Sergeant had decided to spend some time at Tappers, away from their own game's residents. Sometimes a change of pace was nice.

And lately, it was more often than sometimes.

Vanellope was needing a sounding board for her leadership ability more and more frequently, Felix had recently had a falling out in his friendship with Gene (which he needed Ralph and Tappers for), and Calhoun had eased up in her rigid, militaristic schedule over the years since she had married Felix, always ready to get away from Cy-Bug killing. She was still very much the Sergeant in personality, however; not that Felix minded. Ralph was really the only one who had things better than ever before. What with his new relationship with Mary and all.

She had been the first Nicelander to start the chain of 'Ralph-niceness' after his little adventure. The little lady could cook, but she actually had a lot more devilish humor than one might not expect. Of course, Gene was pissed.

"Aw, I'm sure he's just excited, poor fella! " Felix waved it off and sipped his milk. Despite the fact that Tammy could drink Beer, Felix couldn't stand the darn stuff.

"Well, yeah. But why is he so annoyyyyyiiiing about it? I keep telling him, 'NO, you have to wait to go there until we meet some residents! Why? Because I'm the President and I say so!' UGH."

"Yeah, _he's _the annoying, dramatic one," Ralph smirked, sipping his soda.

"Watch it, Stinkbrain. It kind of is hard trying to make sure none of the Sugar Rush residents do anything to stupid." Vanellope's nose crinkled. "Especially Candlehead." In spite of her name, that girl was not the brightest.

"We don't know what kind of world that game is," Calhoun-Fix-it spoke for the first time that night. "Unless your friend wants to be eaten alive like a baby in a basket floating on the Nile, he needs to wait."

Ralph briefly remembered adventuring into Hero's Duty without much preemptive into the kind of environment it was.

Yeah, that was not something he wanted to do again.

Seemed like the Sergeant remembered it too, unfortunately, because she turned and gave him a pointed look.

Ralph sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, that happened. Nothing we can do now."

"And, besides, that how we met dear," Felix placed a hand on top of his wife's. "There's always a silver lining!"

Tamora Calhoun merely snorted. There may have been a smile smile on her lips, though.

'_There's always a silver lining…'_


	2. It Was Just Boredom

**Chapter 2**

"Gloyyyyyyd. I can see you." Vanellope had been leisurely relaxing by the entrance to Game Central Station with a hunch the little candy corn might try to sneak by Duncan and Wynchel to get into the station. Not that going into the station was _bad_ per say. But she had a feeling he wasn't just heading in to look at the outlets or swing by Tappers. None of the Sugar Rush Racers really ever went to Tappers, sans Vanellope. Rancis had tried to go a few times, but he never seemed to have fond memories of the place.

Naturally, Gloyd did show up, looking around to make sure no one was there. Too bad she was President AWESOME. She had suppress organ-exploding laughter as he jumped in the air three feet or so. Gloyd may have fancied himself a prank-master, but Vanellope was President for a reason. Not that he really acknowledged that, what with his prankster pride, and all.

He puffed his cheeks in a pouting manner and adjusted his pumpkin hat. "What? C'mon! I should be allowed in the station! I wasn't even on the roster today!"

"Uh huh," Vanellope tilted her head back in a scrutinizing manner, "And I'm _suuuure_ that was totally not on purpose or anything."

Gloyd said nothing but merely made a frustrated face. He hadn't been on the roster that much this week. It was probably an obvious tactic by now but…well, he didn't have too many alternatives. The fact that he had been playing hooky during NPC race hours was also probably a good tipoff.

"Look," Vanellope continued, getting up, "It's not like I don't want you to do stuff that makes ya happy or nothin'…It's just that, as President, I gotta watch out for my subjects whenever they're 'bout to do somethin' that might be dangerous!" She actually gave a small look of concern. Showing concern wasn't something she particularly enjoyed, however. It showed weakness.

"Mmm." Gloyd barely acknowledged her concern, and refused to make eye contact. Maybe deep down he knew this was a bit of an immature stunt—only _a bit_—but he really thought the President was being too concerned. All he had to do was pop in and look around for a second. Really. Actually, deep down, past his denial, Gloyd knew he couldn't just get in, get a glance, and leave.

Vanellope was starting to get pissed off. "HEY. Back to the race track! Let's go. Just because folks can't choose you doesn't mean you're not supposed to be racing, Booger-Head!" He was like a kid getting scolded!

Which he technically…was. Whatever.

"I'm goiiiiiiiing!" Gloyd whined, relenting. "But it's not like you need more NPC's. Sticky and Nougetsia are just wishing they could get a littleACK—"

"ENOUGH." Vanellope had yanked Gloyd by the ear, and was dragging him back into Sugar Rush.

Gloyd moped all the way back to the race-track. He was about to make a smart remark about the President purposely not being on the roster today so she could stalk him and his progress, but he thought better of it. Just because he could regenerate if he died didn't mean he would opt for a painful death simply for the sake of his ego…probably. He was fully aware that sometimes he could be a little…impatient. And impulsive. But that didn't change that things were so boring lately. Not that he missed King Candy's old regime or anything. No, no, no. Not at all. It's just…his pranks were getting boring because he was getting bored. Everyone knew his best tricks, and whenever he was around everyone was wary of a prank occur.

Rule number one of pranking: It's no fun if someone's expecting it.

And then! A supposedly Halloween-themed game appeared! It's like fate was calling him to it! He couldn't help it, he was possessed, Wonka's Nerds! Gloyd may have liked to make every day of his existence as Halloween-y as possible, but he had to admit, the Sugar Rush Halloween party had just not been up to his standards. He needed a change of pace, something new!

No one seemed to get that…Well, Rancis and him would occasionally hang out and talk about life. Rancis didn't really get it either, but at least he didn't totally shut him down like Crumbelina, or to a lesser exent, Vanellope. But he knew he would love this new place…he just _knew. _Although, Rancis was wary of the whole idea, and wasn't crazy about the fact that Gloyd was such an adrenaline junkie. Well, actually all the racers were to an extent, Gloyd reasoned. They _were_ racers, after all.

Nevertheless, Rancis had never been crazy about stepping outside his comfort zone. He was very much a homebody. He would, on occasion, muster up some faux courage and waltz out to Game Central Station, and try to enjoy the places the President did. Gloyd didn't know why Rancis did that, really. They were friends, but Rancis could be a suck-up. It didn't seem to Gloyd that Rancis understood that the fun that the President had was due to the people she was with at such places. But, whatever. They were bros.

After getting back to the track, he mostly sat and pouted in his little candy-kart. Adorabeezle mocked him, _as usual_, but Snowanna just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

The races began not too long after and at first, Gloyd seemed to be on a rampage. Getting out his irritation on his fellow lady-racers (and Swizzle) was a great stress-reliever he found. But not on Rancis. They were bros. Gradually, his mind started to clear.

"WATCH IT!" Crumbelina swerved to avoid Gloyd's side ramming. Gloyd started to laugh. Okay, this was fun. He was surprised that Vanellope and Taffyta hadn't yelled at him yet. Well Taffyta was on the roster today, but—

"Wait." Gloyd's mind started cranking. They hadn't yelled at him because they were _so far ahead_ that he hadn't been an obstacle yet. They were totally engrossed in beating each other…he was a racer, too; he knew how everything else just melted away during a race. He smirked. "Unpredictability, I love it!"

And with that, he directed his cart off the track.

* * *

The Surge Protector was milling about when…_a large piece of candy corn drove by?!_ The fuck?!

The electrical man winced as the cart phased through him and drove through the station, driving toward the opposite end.

Damn kids.

"Wooooooooah ahaha!" Gloyd was on an adrenaline high! "So excited, so exciteeeeeed!"

Despite the fact that it was daytime, the arcade had some residents milling about.

"Woah, kid!"

"Jeez watch it"

"Brrrrring!" Amy Rose was hit and lost a boatload of rings. "HEY! WATCH IT!"

Gloyd ignored all of them.

Finally, near the opposite end of the station, he found the game. "Vampire Clans. Humph. Doesn't look so scary." His cart creaked as he hopped out of it. His face morphed into a giant smile, as he ran toward the train, before the Surge Protector caught up with him. That guy was pretty slow for electricity; Gloyd didn't care what the President's big friend said.

* * *

"Phew…Well, I guess we got beat, but at least our base is still in one piece," Maple admired the grounds of the Autumn clan territory. Their castle's towers curved up and around into the game's night sky, creating large spirals. Maple had a wing all to herself in one of them, with nice, marble walls, and no light. Light in the neutral base was really for the benefit of the player—being vampires, the characters had no particular need or desire for it.

"How is everyone?" Maple asked without glancing back at her team.

"Quite well, m'dear," William responded. For an old guy, he was certainly looking quite well. Dapper, as always.

"Humiliated…" Maple decided that meant Cocoa was fine. Just her ego that needed to heal, and she could use some ego buising.

"_Please just stake me so I can regenerate."_ Maple turned around quickly to see a mangled, and bloody MJ. Oh right. MJ was in agonizing death-pain from that last play through.

"Will, do you mind?" Maple requested without looking directly into her butler's eyes. She didn't want to let on how uncomfortable MJ injuries actually made her. They were borderline torture wounds.

"Not at all, madam." William produced a stake and promptly shoved it into MJ's chest, killing him. Not two seconds later and puff of dark smoke, MJ was good as new.

"Phew. Gotta watch out for Malachi next time. That little sucker is nasty business. Can You believe he didn't even show up at the 'All Clans Meet and Greet'?"

"No kidding," Maple muttered. All of the clans had come to a mutual agreement of peace during after-hours on all grounds. Except for the Winter Clan. They had only been plugged in a week, and that creepy child Clan Leader was already seeming rather…unhinged. Luckily, MJ's injury had been in-gameplay, so Malachi hadn't broken any rules. Not yet, yet anyway.

Maple shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled. "All right everyone. Back to base."

"Can I go hang out at the forest?" Cocoa suddenly asked. That was odd. Usually Cocoa stuck to Maple like Glue. Talkative, Egotistical, Grade-School-aged glue. "I don't wanna hang out at base all day waiting for another player. It's kinda dull."

Maple smiled. "Whhaaaaat? You mean you don't like hanging out with old people twice your age who just like to talk about adult stuff?" she joked.

Cocoa blinked. "Um…no?"

Maple sighed. That girl was not always the brightest. Cute and strong, but not so much going on in the brains department. "Yeah, yeah go play in the woods. I want you back pronto in the event of another gamer, though!"

"Course!" Cocoa smiled. She would probably go hang out with the werewolves. Cocoa turned into a bat and flew in the direction of the woods in front of neutral territory, making sure to void the wind tunnels. She could vaguely hear Maple yell through the wind: "Don't go toward the Winter clans!"

* * *

Gloyd took a deep breath as he approached the new game. He only exhaled as he emerged from the tunnel.

Well, that wasn't so bad.

Looking around he could see the entire world seemed to be covered in nighttime. Cool. Well, there may have been some blotches of sunlight from the South, but they were the anomaly. Stars dotted the skies, and a full moon was glowing majestically over a thick wood. It smelled earthy and the ground was damp. There was a slightly creepy fog about, as well. Perfect. To the North, there were auroras lining the sky, and to the West, he see tornadoes. It was like nothing Gloyd had ever seen…this was Halloween! There had even been a few spiders he saw crawl around! Real ones! Not made of chocolate or black licorice! Like, not cutesy Japanese Halloween, but…REAL Halloween! Creepy, and scary like it should be!

He couldn't wait to tell Rancis.

"Hm…wonder where the trick-or-treaters are." Gloyd chose a random direction—north as it were—and began to walk. He was pretty sure he could make out a fortress of some kind. Oh! It was snowy. The fortress looked small, but the closer Gloyd got, the more he could see what a behemoth of an infrastructure the base really was. It was black and shiny, like the bitter Jellybeans from back in Sugar Rush…he didn't know what it was if it wasn't made of sugar, but it certainly fascinated him. It was still quite far off, however.

It was about then that he heard growls. Sweet mother of monkey milk, this was exciting! And terrifying!

"Who's there?" Oh, wait he should know better, darn it! That's all horror movies started, _doi_.

"The Winter Wolves…" A response. Good start, he supposed. Until they walked out of the fog and appeared to be at least six feet tall on their hind legs. And had blood-shot, orange eyes. And yellow teeth. And smelled bad. With fur all over.

Suddenly Gloyd's voice was but a whisper. "T-trick or treat…?"

The wolf paused to assess the small boy before snarling, "You mocking me BOY? What's your Clan?! It sure as Hela isn't ours!"

"I-I-I'm from Su-su-sugar R-rush." What was the matter with him?! He was never afraid! Except for that one time, and the other time, and…okay maybe he was more of a pussywillow than he'd initially thought.

The wolf looked at him before replying, "It's clear you were sent to spy. I can't let you through, or it's my ass, kid. Now tell me who sent you. Before I just get tired and eat you, so you can regenerate back into your little clan hideout.

What?! No, no, NO, this was BAD. "No! I'm from another arcade game! I'm not from here!"

"Uh-huh," the wolf yawed. "Well, guess it's time for a late lunch."

Gloyd let out a yelp as he turned and made a brake for the portal he came from. He could hear the wolf's breath and footsteps not far behind. Eventually, he couldn't hear them anymore and just focused on running. As the Game Central Station train in the neutral base came into view, he felt hope surge through his chest. What had he been _thinking?!_ President Vanellope would have his forgiveness and…wait maybe that came out wrong. Apologies? No, no forgiveness sounded better.

He barely registered the wolf appearing in front of him and knocking him off his feet, but he did register the pain that shot through his right shoulder as he cried out in pain.

Gloyd suddenly realized that maybe…maybe this hadn't been such a great plan.


	3. First Time for Everything!

**Hey all. Sorry; finals this week. I technically need to make a study guide tonight but, ahhh yeah that's not happening. Anyway, those who have been reading this story already may want to go back and re-read the chapters—I added a lot of extra content, because I wasn't really happy with the story initially. I'll also come back and proofread this later. Sorry for any grammar/spelling issues for now.**

Gloyd's vision was a bit spotty. Bright splotches covered up the dark forest landscape in front of him. He tried to lift his head, but he felt severely off-balance…and when he tried to shift his body upward there was a sudden, sharp pain that shot up his ribs. Gloyd inhaled sharply. Yikes. That werewolf guy hadn't been screwing around. Wait, why the hell wasn't he dead yet?

Realizing he needed to get a grip on his bearings, Gloyd began to focus his vision. The splotches gradually became less intense, and he was able to discern the wolf's large figure, not far off. At first, Gloyd yelped and tried to move away—only temporarily forgetting that whole broken ribs thing he had going currently. It didn't take much to remind him as he cringed and cradled his side.

"Oh look! You hurt him! You know Maple and Dawn wouldn't be happy about this!"

There were voices. Oh. He hadn't noticed before. The bright splotches were returning due to the pain, but he could tell that the creature had its back turned to Gloyd. Oh, nope. No, it was looking straight at him now.

"Look, Cocoa, I enjoy playing with you, but I have my orders. Besides you clans shouldn't be sending out troops when it's not scheduled during gameplay."

A smaller figure, whose details Gloyd couldn't quite make out, leaned in his direction before responding. "Huh, well I don't know that kid from Drac, Lloyd. He isn't Autumn Clan. Or Spring Clan."

"But…he has a pumpkin…"

"Yeah…" There was a pause. Gloyd's vision was focusing again. The smaller girl had blonde hair. "You'd think with a pumpkin he'd been one of ours, but I've never seen him. Not even as a castle NPC."

The wolf glanced back at Gloyd, and then to the girl. "Well," he ceded, sighing, "I guess if you take him, we can keep this our secret, huh? You figure out which clan he's from."

"Okie-dokie." Cocoa smiled up at the big wolf. "But…what if he's not from this game?"

"Doubtful." Lloyd waved it off. "Malachi sent out a sentry to check out the new place and that vampire didn't come back. Ever since then, we've all been on lockdown."

"Huh…" Cocoa's brows furrowed and she crossed her arms, thoughtfully. "Soooo…is that why Maple has a strict 'Never leave the game' policy?"

Lloyd the werewolf mulled silently for moments before responding. "Yeah, it's possible."

"Hm."

"Now, go on. I don't wanna get in trouble with Malachi."

"Sure thing, Buddy!" Cocoa saluted to her much taller friend before waltzing up to Gloyd. It was then that Gloyd was able to get a much better impression.

The girl was perhaps a bit shorter than he, due to his pumpkin. Her eyes were a very clear blue color, with short, blonde locks that had been pulled back into two childish pigtails. Offset her little sundress was, by a large, dark cape with a nicely-sized collar. Two, small fangs on the sides of her lips did not go unnoticed, however. Gloyd suddenly felt like he had an upset stomach. Like that time he had eaten waaaaay too much Halloween candy, and had barfed it all up. Geez, his ribs must've been making him ill from the pain.

Speaking of pain. Cocoa picked him up brusquely and leapt into a tree, leaving Lloyd behind and leaving Gloyd to scream in pain.

"OH SWEET LORD OF TRICK OR TREATS THAT HURTS!"

"Oh quit yer bellyachin'!" Cocoa smiled down at her little damsel. "You don't wanna be hanging out in the North kid, believe me. Yer lucky Lloyd and I are pals."

Somehow, the method in which she responded was more offensive to Gloyd the extreme pain shooting through his body at that moment. "Kid?! You're as old as I am! And shorter!"

"Only 'cause of yer big pumpkin! Which…" Cocoa sniffed the air, "smells kinda _weird_ if I'm gonna be honest." Cocoa halted her travels on a very large tree branch in a very warm maple tree.

She dropped Gloyd unceremoniously onto the hard surface of the tree limb, seemingly oblivious to Gloyd's pain.

"Sooo," she smiled warmly and unmindful of the situation, "What clan you from?"

"Ugh…" Gloyd held his side and scooted up against the tree trunk nearby. It felt like a massive relief to his poor body to have a support to lean on. "Clan? Is that like…'Vampire Clans'?" he motioned with quotes. After Cocoa stared blankly at him for a moment, Gloyd groaned and elaborated. "You know…the title of this game?"

Cocoa stiffened. She cocked her head back and sized him up. "You're…you're not from this game?"

"Haha, no! Haha—ow."

"Ohhhh. Sorry I wasn't gentle there." She smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "I thought I would just stake you and you could heal."

Gloyd stopped. His stomach had that nervous feeling again. "Wait, so…so you would've just killed me?"

"Well…yeah." Cocoa shrugged and laughed. "I mean, with how nasty our battles get we do that all the time."

Gloyd felt his face turn pale. Sure, in Sugar Rush people crashed, died, and regenerated all the time. But he couldn't remember a time when anyone had to be _murdered_ by their friends to help avoid serious suffering. Death had always been pretty instantaneous back home. Not a lot of time to feel pain or think about it. Ugh, he was gonna be sick.

Cocoa seemed to notice this look. "Sooo…you don't do that in your game?"

"Not…not really."

Cocoa blinked and shrugged. "Oh well! Different strokes for different folks!"

Gloyd cracked a weak smile. "H-haaa…"

Suddenly a crystal ball appeared in front of them. It was glowing and surrounded by black mist, levitating off of the branch. Gloyd quickly forgot his pain and felt his curiosity frolicking back. "What is that?!" He could feel his grin crawling back.

"Oh! I guess we've got another player!" Cocoa turned to him. "If my clan gets chosen I'll have to leave you here."

Grin was gone. "What? Nononono. I almost got killed out there! What if something comes to get me this time?!"

"Then…oh." Cocoa chewed on her lip, thoughtfully. "I, uh, hadn't thought of that."

Gloyd looked at her, deadpanned. "You hadn't THOUGHT OF THAT?"

"Hey! I JUST found out you weren't from here! OKAY?!"

Gloyd shrunk back. "Yes'm."

A loud, chiming noise distracted Cocoa and Gloyd. They turned their attentions back to the orb, to see it glow and disappear. Or, that's all it seemed to Gloyd, anyway. He looked back at her expectantly.

"Oh, it's fine. The player chose the Winter clan." She waved it off.

"Oh. So wait, you don't need to be out there?"

"NAWWW. I'm just a captain; I only gotta be out there when our leader gets chosen."

"Oh, huh. In Sugar Rush it's pretty important for us to be there as NPC's even when we're not on the roster."

Cocoa's nose crinkled in confusion. "Sugar…Rush?"

"My game."

"Ah. I'm Cocoa, by the way."

He smiled and adjusted his pumpkin. "Gloyd."

Cocoa smiled. "Well, nice ta meetcha stranger!" Gloyd felt sick again. "…But why does your pumpkin smell so WEIRD?" Suddenly he felt fine.

"Uh, well it's candy." Cocoa blinked. Gloyd was shocked. How could a kid have never been exposed to candy before and be that happy? "Well, uh, here try some. I always have a stash." He grinned mischievously. Removing his pumpkin hat, he began to fish through his various different types of candy. Cocoa leaned in to get a better view of it. After hemming and hawing, Gloyd decided to just let her try some peanut-butter cups. Being that this would be her first candy-trying experience, he decided to go with something classic. Make it special. Or something.

While placing his pumpkin back on, he held out the peanut-butter cups with a grin. "Try these! They're so good!"

Cocoa gingerly picked up the small candy. Eyeing it suspiciously, she sniffed it. Gloyd was pretty sure he had never seen that reaction to candy from a young girl before. Jeez, it really felt like he was getting sick. He hoped he didn't have a virus or something. Mustering up her courage, Cocoa popped a whole cup in her mouth and started chewing. And stopped. Abruptly.

"EUGH! PEW!" Cocoa spit the candy back out on Gloyd's shoes.

"GROSS! Hey, I like these shoes!"

"Well, don't feed me CRAP next time!" Gloyd just stared at her. What the hell was wrong with this chick?!

"It's not CRAP it's the most delicious, magical, tasty stuffs ever to be created by Santa Claus!" Seriously, what the hell was wrong with her?

"Okay, I only understood the first half of that, and that's stuff's so sweet I can't feel my cheeks!" she grabbed he cheeks and squished her face inward.

Gloyd just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Hopeless."

That seemed to annoy Cocoa. "Oh? Why don't I show you something that's _actually_ tasty." Cocoa made what seemed to be a concentrated blink, and an inventory screen popped up in front of her. "No, no, not that, not this—" she mumbled as she scrolled through various traps, weapons, and food. Finally she found a bottle and a glass. "Here we go!" Smiling, she shoved the glass into Gloyd's hands and began to pour what looked like grape juice into it.

Gloyd swirled it for a moment before taking a large swig of it. Cocoa leaned in, smiling expectantly. "Well? Well?!"

Well…he didn't HATE it but…it wasn't really sweet. Tasted kind of metallic. But he wouldn't let her know that. "UGH GROOOOOSSS. What is it?!"

Cocoa huffed and snatched the glass from Gloyd before downing it all herself. "Well! That's the last time I share my blood supply with you!"

Gloyd froze. "…Blood…?"

"What?" Cocoa cocked her head. "Never tried blood before?"

Gloyd really was gonna be sick.


	4. There's a Big World Out There

Gloyd and Cocoa spent the rest of the work day hanging out in that Maple tree just talking. She would relate to him Vampire Clans' game mechanics and how much it sucked whenever you didn't die instantaneously during gameplay. Much to his surprise, the comment Cocoa had made earlier about planning to stake him upon meeting him was actually quite merciful and well-meaning on her part. Lloyd, the werewolf Gloyd had had the pleasure of meeting earlier, was from the Winter Clan, which apparently was not the most direct whenever they were faced. Of course he should have expected this, he reminded himself in hindsight; this was a creepy, Halloween-esque game. Cocoa also told him all the embarrassing stories from Clan get-togethers; particularly ones where Maple kept restricting her captains' booze consumption as well as limiting their partying.

"This Maple chick sounds like she's got a twizzler up her ass."

Cocoa stared blankly. "A what?"

"She sounds uptight."

Merely shrugging, Cocoa responded, "Yeah, well it's in her programming. It's not like she can help it. At least, you know…not the first week we're plugged in." Though she didn't voice it, Cocoa kind of hoped Maple would grow out of her programming in that way.

In other conversation, Cocoa got to hear all about Sugar Rush. About Gloyd's best bro ever, Rancis, about how annoying people like Crumbelina and Minty were, about how he was kind of suspicious that Sticky was pretty intensely and obviously crushing on Swizzle, about how Taffyta was mean but very loyal, about how Candlehead was not smart…like, at all. And definitely about how the President was a bullied pauper turned into a concerned dictator.

Naturally, he also mentioned how night never came and it was always bright and sunny.

"Sunny? ALL the time?!" Cocoa raised her voice and eyed Gloyd with skepticism. She had only had a few blips of sun on occasion out near the Summer Clan's fortress. It hadn't felt good at all. "How do you not get burned and stuff?"

"Burned?" Gloyd was a little taken back by the question. "I…I don't think I've ever been burned. At least, not that I remember." He may have crashed and been burned in that way, but death was always so quick on the racetrack.

Her clear, blue eyes narrowed and she blew a raspberry at the notion. "Yeah, right! The sun hurts like Drac! You wouldn't be alive if it was sunny ALL THE TIME, everywhere! How would you stay alive long enough for players to use you?"

It was Gloyd's turn to give Cocoa a look of disbelief. Had this girl never been in a sunny environment before? "You haven't gone outside your game, right?"

Cocoa chewed on her lip with a downcast look and shook her head. Chewing on her lip whenever she was unsure seemed to be a nervous trait. It was kinda cute.

In Gloyd's mind it was decided; moreover he wanted to prove to her he was absolutely right about this. "Well then! You're coming with me to the station! Outside your game!"

"What?!" Her head snapped back up. Her face morphed into one, big smile before quickly fading back into a look of concern. "But…well…Maple…"

Gloyd didn't have a difficult time guessing the reasons for her hesitance. "She doesn't allow anyone in your clan outside your game, does she?"

Shaking her head she replied, "She doesn't allow _anyone_ outside the game; not even if they're strangers."

Well, that was odd. It seemed like this crazy lady had no boundaries at all. "Why? That's not her business right?"

"Well…I mean, you heard Lloyd earlier right?"

"Lloyd?"

"The werewolf?"

Ah. Him. "Well…I was kind of indisposed sooo…nope."

Cocoa smiled apologetically before continuing. "Well…someone did venture out. They never came back though." Her brows knit together. "Luckily it wasn't anyone I knew personally—wait," her face snapped back up to look Gloyd right in the eye. With a slightly horrified look, she shakily persisted, "Y-you say it's bright and sunny all the time out there, right?"

Gloyd's eyes widened. Oh, _shit_. "Y-yeah, that's right."

An uncomfortable silence followed. Gloyd had to admit, if he was a vampire and had just stumbled onto this realization, he would be a little-extremely horrified as well. But the strange thing was, he didn't care. He wanted his new friend to see the worlds outside of her own—she wanted to, desperately; he could perceive that much. Articulating why he wanted her to share the things he did in his everyday life and show her the things he saw on a regular basis was difficult; he, himself, was not entirely sure why. All he could really determine was that living in the same world for her entire existence would be pitiful. And Cocoa was _not _a pitiful creature by any stretch of his imagination.

She stood up to leave with an announcer declaring the arcade closed, but Gloyd didn't hear the announcement. Her eyes looked down at him with a resigned, weary expression as if she had resigned herself to Maple's imposed fate. "You should probably go back home." Her voice pulled Gloyd out of his thoughts and he looked up at her. "It's safe now, with no gameplay…But, maybe come by again sometime?" She transformed into a bat and began to fly away. The only reason she halted in her endeavor was the call of a desperate, "Wait!"

Once turned to face his voice, she could see Gloyd's right hand outstretched for her to take. "Come on! Better to ask for permission than forgiveness!" His smile was practically devilish. "I know you wanna see it!"

"But Gloyd, HOW?" She moved back to the branch and took her human form once more. "I'll die if the light hits me too strongly!"

"Stay a bat then!"

"Huh?"

"I mean…" he was racking his Sugar-Russian brain, "Hide in my jacket! And then we can go get some protective gear from another game! It's perfect! You would be able to see everything, and not get hurt."

Coca's face remained unreadable for a short moment. Then that adorable, impish grin reappeared. She retook her bat form before Gloyd's brain could even process what had happened. "C'mon, then! What are we waiting for?!"

"That's the spiriiiiAAAAHH," was all Gloyd could get out before Cocoa yanked him off of the branch and headed for the game's exit.

* * *

"You ready?" he looked down into his now zipped-up racer's jacket at the little bat that was quivering with excitement.

"Ready ready!" Cocoa chirped back.

Zipping up his jacket all the way, Gloyd boarded the train. It was ready to take off immediately, it seemed. Gloyd reasoned that it was because it was used so infrequently that it must be as excited as they were to get out of there. It had been the same way when he initially boarded it to get into 'Vampire Clans'. He often wondered if the trains weren't somehow alive, bearing some consciousness, much like the Surge Protector was. Cocoa's little chirrups were constant, asking: "Are we there yet? Can you see the entrance? Oooh, this is so exciting!" She kept pestering him to describe the railway to her, but he reminded her that she would be able to see it soon enough—they just needed some protective covering and sunglasses.

The train finally dawdled to a stop and Gloyd, carefully so as not to harm his precious cargo, hopped off and entered the station. It was a lot busier now, with game characters bustling to and fro from every port. Well, except Vampire Clans. There were enough central station travelers to be creating an abnormal amount of noise which, Gloyd could feel from his shirt, was making Cocoa nervous. That, or very, very excited. About that time, Gloyd suddenly became acutely aware of something that was missing.

"Whu…My cart!" A few curious characters glanced at Gloyd but continued on with their routines.

"What's wrong, Gloyd?" Cocoa's voice was barely a whisper in contrast with all the other noise about.

"I…my racer's cart is…gone? Huh. Maybe the Surge Protector moved it or something…"

"Oh…should we go looking for it?"

Gloyd thought for a moment with Cocoa squirming underneath his jacket uncomfortably. "…Naw. It's probably back in Sugar Rush. And even if it's not, I can always make another one."

"Woah, really?!"

Gloyd had a small smile as he continued, "Yeah. It didn't have sentimental value or anything, so it's fine. It just means it's gonna take us longer to get you clothes." They were now on the move, and as Cocoa grumbled Gloyd was struck with an idea.

"Hey, well, it might not be so long after all. I was gonna take you to Fashionistas 4 but now I'm thinking…this'll work better."

"What will?" Cocoa could feel Gloyd turn.

"You'll see! Get ready for some Street Fighter 3!"

"What fighter?"

* * *

Visitors weren't unusual or anything for Makoto, but she was genuinely surprised when Gloyd Orangeboar made an unexpected stopover at her dojo.

"Gloyd! Hey little man, I was worried about you!" Makoto ran and scooped Gloyd up in a sudden hug. It wasn't difficult for Makoto to note something was off, however. "…Um what've you got in your shirt?"

"I'm not little. And I have a friend from the new Vampire Clans game!"

Cocoa managed to speak out a muffled "Hi!" as Makoto looked on, confused. "Well, that…okay? What what is it?" She couldn't think of anything scary that size.

"Wellll, she's a vampire. But she can't get hit by the light."

"Like at all." Cocoa's voice was still muffled, but distinguishable.

"Oh," Makoto responded. "Then…why come here?"

"We need clothes to cover her up."

Makoto's face exploded with a raspberry-like color. "She's _naked?!_"

"NO," Gloyd rubbed his face. Cocoa gave a muffled, "Yes."

Makoto was silent for a moment, mulling over something. Finally, she said, "Alright, I'll help. You're little friend has to tell me all about their game, though." She smiled when Cocoa responded positively. "Great! Let's go raid Q's closet—he usually has good cover-up stuff."

As they began to exit the dojo, Gloyd tilted his face toward Makoto. "You said you were worried about me…why?"

Makoto looked directly at him as they continued walking to Q's. "Dude, you went into a scary game and didn't come out for hours. AND you went there _during gameplay_." Gloyd opened his mouth to retaliate, and then thought better of it. He simply glanced away, seemingly not paying attention to Makoto. "On top of which, Vanellope and Rancis were looking for you…I think Fix-It Felix got involved, too."

A realization began to bubble up in Gloyd. "So…did they…?"

"They had your cart."

Damn it.

**Reviews are the best, and gimme suggestions on how to make this better!**


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